The other disadvantage is that new Macs eventually will not run 10.6.x Snow Leopard. So you better start thinking of hoarding older Macs to replace your current Macs when they go down.
DrG
On Jul 16, 2013, at 2:15 PM, Robert Cham <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I've done something similar on my Macs. As OSX is slowly morphing
> into a clone of iOS, I have found it less than useful for my
> everyday work. I simply have frozen my Macs at OS 10.6.8, the
> preferred OS for many audio recording professionals, with XP, the
> most common OS in the broadcast industry, on Bootcamp for PC
> programs. Yes it's less convenient than Parallels, but it's not an
> emulation.
>
> These OSs are preferred by those who value stability and the ability
> to run older programs. As I have frozen my computers' OS, I have
> also done so with the programs that run on them, with the single
> exception of Safari, and it's plug-ins.
>
> Advantages are stability and the lack of upgrade costs . The only
> disadvantage that I can see is that I will not be able to run the
> "latest and greatest" programs. Most of the "improvements" that I've
> seen lately are entirely for the "coolness" factor, or to be more
> like working on an iPad. Which to me is a disadvantage. As an
> example, Logic Pro X came out today. It requires OS 10.8.4. A quick
> look at the features reveals nothing of real use to me.
>
> So that's my approach. Pick a moment in time when everything worked
> to your liking, and lock your computers down. As they say, YMMV.
>
> Bob Cham
>
>
>
>> One thing we are considering at work, and I'm considering in the
>> studio, is disconnecting the XP machines from the network, basically
>> freezing them as-is and using them until the hardware fails. At
>> work, there are certain programs I must use that are very old and
>> won't run on anything beyond XP. I do not wish to spend a lot of
>> money and re-learn something that was already hard to learn the
>> first time (specifically, digital mapping software). We also use a
>> version of Quark for publishing our products that would be costly
>> and need re-learning to "upgrade" or replace. And, I publish our
>> books in Microsoft Publisher, and there is no way I'm going to
>> re-make all my templates and styles in some new software. Life is
>> just too short.
>>
>> Under this scenario, files move from the XP machine via a
>> "sneakernet" of a USB fob. An extra layer of PITA, but much cheaper
>> and less PITA than re-learning how to do everything.
>>
>> Just writing this confirms to me that the best idea is just
>> disconnect the XP machine from the network and use it until it dies
>> (hopefully, coincident with my retirement time). I can easily do my
>> communicating on an iPad or even move other tasks over to a new
>> MacBook or Windows laptop.
>>
>> Life is just too short to relearn how to use a damn computer!
>>
>> -- Tom Fine
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